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A blog to discuss Digital Baseball Card Art in the form of Baseball cards that were never made. What if Topps had issued a Mickey Mantle card in 1955...

Correcting Baseball Card Errors

Today I Today I will show some custom baseball cards in the form of corrections to several of the more famous errors and anomalies on vintage cards. There are many cases of reversed negative and wrong player photos on modern cards, but I will be focusing on the classic pre-1970 cards.

First, I will start with the 1957 Topps Hank Aaron. This was a card with a reversed negative, and Topps did not issue a correction. The original card makes Hammerin' Hank appear to be left handed. This was not a technically difficult card to correct, but I always wanted to see the card as it was originally intended: will show some custom baseball cards in the form of corrections to several of the more famous errors and anomalies on vintage cards. There are many cases of reversed negative and wrong player photos on modern cards, but I will be focusing on the classic pre-1970 cards.
st, I will start with the 1957 Topps Hank Aaron. This was a card with a reversed negative, and Topps did not issue a correction. The original card makes Hammerin' Hank appear to be left handed. This was not a technically difficult card to correct, but I always wanted to see the card as it was originally intended:

Original 1957 Topps Hank Aaron

with reversed negative corrected

Let's stay with Hank Aaron for now. In 1956 Topps used a picture of Willie Mays for the action photo on the Aaron card.

Original 1956 Topps Hank Aaron

and here is my version with an actual picture of Hank Aaron sliding.

Here is another case of a reversed negative that Topps missed that resulted in a left handed catcher on a baseball card.

The idea of changing my thinking in regards to Baseball, based on how our Sim performs, is to me volunteering to be programmed.

I know I am much more reactive and sensitive to ways I think the Sim performs then most ,

Because of this I prefer to focus my time and energy on the GM part of the game and don't involve myself much with tweaking lineups.

I am once again frustrated by a situation that to me is ridiculous.

I have several teams where I have real life full time top of the order batters, who are under 100% before 25 games of the season.

One example is 2005 Carl Crawford with 687 PA is at 99 % at the 21 game mark.

On the same team Brady Clark is at 92 % despite 674 Real Life Plate Appearances.

I had similar experience recently with 1946 Pee Wee Reese and Eddie Stanky of the 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers.

I understand the argument that a Sim Player should cost you more if a player plays 99% as opposed to 80 - 85 % of the time.

I really wish they would run a different program for Progressive Leagues.

I offered an alternative years ago.

Alternative Suggestion

Take a real life player, Cal Ripken during his streak is an easy example. Give him 0.5 games credit for every game he appears in and 0.5 games credit for every game he has 3 plate appearances heading into a season.That gives him the full possible 162 at the start of a season.

Then for each game he appears in during the Sim Season, it costs 0.5 games of energy, and in each game he is used for 3 plate appearances that costs 0.5 games of energy.

So even if a player bats 12 times in a game he would only use the maximum energy for 1.0 games of energy.

As it is now if one has a very strong offense or faces very weak pitching a player gets fatigued as his team scores runs in bunches. Winning lop sided games does not fatigue teams in real life.

With this system a manager could use his backup infielder as a regular for a week or two as in real life when a starter has an injury instead of playing your regular 17-18 games out of 20 and the backup the other 2 or 3.

Maybe there are big problems with this proposed solution, but I just hate having to be concerned about players fatigue levels because the offense is going well.

What is the Trading Card Database?

The Trading Card Database serves as a community-created archive of the history of trading cards as well as a resource and channel for collectors.

Here you will find set listings for an expanding list of releases, including trivia, checklists, error cards, rookie cards, user ratings and comments, forums, plus images. The database is fully searchable by year, card manufacturer, player, or team and is growing by the day.

You can contribute your scans, reviews and general knowledge by registering. Earn points for adding things to the database and climb up the ranks. You can also use the database to track your collection. We are committed to providing the most accurate information, so if you spot any inaccuracies, please let us know.

I know how to post images off the internet to the forums here (you right click on the image from the site, open it in a new window, and then copy and paste).

But I ordered and just found in the mail today CD ROM with dozens of old radio broadcasts of classic games, and in addition it has photos of teams and stadiums from pre-WW 1. But best of all it has hundreds of old baseball cards from 190-something. One is of Cy Young with the Naps, another of Walter Johnson etc.

But I can't copy and paste them. Does anyone know how I can post something directly off my hard drive or a CD Rom to the forums here ? I would be happy to post a slew of these images but have not been able to so far.

'63 is a great year in my memory as well. I had just graduated from college and my Cardinals had a September hot streak that got them within a game of the Dodgers.

The Dodgers came into St. Louis with Podres, Koufax and Drysdale ready to pitch the Series. A friend and I got tickets to the first game with seats out in the old right field pavilion of Sportsmans Park.

Stan the Man hit a home run #475 (his last) right over our heads, but the the Dodgers eked out a victory and the bubble burst. Stan retired at the end of the season a few days later.

Those Cubs teams were very great. The Mets in 1969 are under-rated, mostly cause my five-year old can hit better than half their team could. But they beat the Cubs, Braves (Aaron, Niekro, Wilhelm, Cepeda) and the very great Orioles.

But the Cubs had almost no real weaknesses as a team, almost an all-star at every position and even now all these years later I can almost remember their whole starting lineup off the top of my head:

Fergie Jenkins, Ken Holtzman, I am forgetting another good pitcher - Hand maybe ? That is without looking. They were good. A Cubs-Orioles series would have been interesting in say 1970 - they might have done much better than the over-rated Big Red Machine.

There was also a moment, around 1971 I think, when we all thought that the White Sox were about to take over the American League - I remember when my Yankees would play them, we really thought they were good - Melton, Wood, John, C. May, also Walt Williams - am I remembering this right ?

It never quite happened, not sure why, I guess partly because the Oakland As came up big in those same years...

On June 14, 1947, while the Chicago White Sox were in Boston for a weekend series, the Red Sox traded 1B Rudy York to Chicago for 1B Jake Jones. In the Sunday doubleheader the next day, Jones belted two balls over the LF wall and drove in seven runs to help sweep his old team. In the nightcap, his walk-off grand slam broke a 4-4 tie.

In the Red Sox dugout, P Tex Hughson predicted Jones' game-winning blast as he walked to the plate. "He'll hit a HR on the first pitch." However, Jonesnearly didn't get his grand slam. Bobby Doerr, on first when Jones delivered, ran to second, touched the bag, and headed to the clubhouse. However,Coach Del Baker waved to him, and Doerr realized that, even though the winning run had scored, the newcomer's HR was at stake. So he resumed his trip around the bases.

Red Sox manager Joe Cronin said, "I guess the trade is all right for tonight, at least." When someone said that Jones had a pretty good day, Boston IF Eddie Pellagrini replied: "Pretty good day! That's a pretty good week."

Considering what he had been involved with in the previous five years, it's remarkable that Jones was playing at all, much less hitting grand slams.

Born near Monroe LA in 1920, Jones played in the Class C Cotton States League right out of high school. In 1940, he led the Class AA Texas League with 24 HRs at Shreveport. He also exhibited outstanding fielding ability at 1B. Detroit's Hall-of-Famer Harry Heilmann calledJones one of the greatest natural hitting prospects he had ever seen.

Shreveport sold Jake to the White Sox in late August, 1941. He played in three games for Chicago that season and seven more at the beginning of 1942 before enlisting in the U.S. Navy.

Selected for flight training, Jones was sent to Chapel Hill NC. The Navy baseball team there included Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, Johnny Sain, Joe Coleman, Ray Scarborough, Buddy Hassett, and Harry Craft. However, Jake played only for the post basketball team.

In 1944-5, while flying off the carrier Yorktown in the Pacific, Jonesearned four Air Medals, several Distinguished Flying Crosses and a Silver Star for his bravery and efficiency on combat missions. On one flight, he downed five Japanese planes. (Jones' first Air Medal citation was signed by Vice Admiral J. S. McCain, grandfather of the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain III.)

As a result, Jones returned to the U.S. after the war as a hero. During a week's shore leave in NYC, he appeared on Kate Smith's radio show. The famous sportswriter Grantland Rice praised the flying skill of the former ballplayer. "It was over Tokyo that three flyers ganged up on him and he got all three."

Jake Jones

Jake returned to the White Sox for the 1946 season. Although he had returned unscathed from WWII, he didn't have such luck on the diamond. He fractured his left wrist and elbow when Detroit's Eddie Lake ran into his outstretched arm during a play at 1B. Surgery and a long period of physical therapy got Jones in shape to play in 1947 and set the stage for his impressive debut with the Red Sox.

Unfortunately, Jake's first day with Boston gave a misleading view of his production. "Streaky as they come, Jones was capable of carrying the team when his bat was hot, but when it wasn't it could be freezing." He hit only .237 combined for the two Soxteams in 1947. However, he drove in 96 runs and clouted 19 HRs. Jake also developed a strong friendship with Ted Williams because of their common interest in fishing and flying.

When Cronin took over as GM in 1948, he hired Joe McCarthy as manager. Joemoved OF Stan Spence to 1B and platooned him with Jones. However, when neither provided the clout needed from the position, McCarthy turned to Billy Goodman.Jones hit .200 and 1 HR in only 105 ABs. After the season, the Red Sox released him, and he finished his baseball career with AAA Louisville and AA San Antonio in 1949 before retiring to his 400-acre cotton farm in his hometown.

Reference: "Ace: The Jake Jones Story," Dick Thompson, The National Pastime: A Review of Baseball History (SABR)Top of Page